The untranslated regions of genes from Trypanosoma cruzi: perspectives for functional characterization of strains and isolates

Abstract

The sequencing of Trypanosoma cruzi genome has been completed and a great deal of information is now available. However, the organization of protozoa genomes is somewhat elusive and much effort must be applied to reveal all the information coded in the nucleotide sequences. Among the DNA segments that needs further investigation are the untranslated regions of genes. Many of the T. cruzi genes that were revealed by the genome sequencing lack information about the untranslated regions. In this paper, some features of these untranslated segments as well as their applications in T. cruzi populations are discussed.

A novel ABCG-like transporter of Trypanosoma cruzi is involved in natural resistance to benznidazole

“…Analysis of 5’UTR and 3’UTR of TcABCG1 genes - In kinetoplastids, regulation of gene expression is exerted at the posttranscriptional level ( Clayton & Shapira 2007 ) and in trypanosomatids, specific motifs and ordered secondary structures in 5’ and 3’ UTRs may control mRNA half-life and translation efficiency ( Brandão 2006 , Clayton & Shapira 2007 , Siegel et al 2011 , Clayton 2014 ).…”

Trypanosomatid EST: a neglected information resource regarding flagellated protozoa?

“…This means that EST sequences still provide a source of information for expanding these experimental findings to the trypanosomatid universe. The T. cruzi genome sequencing effort has made clear that the exact definition of a UTR is dependent on experimental information and it should be checked by full cDNAs or ESTs primed at either the 5' or 3' end (Brandão 2006).…”

The composition of upstream open reading frames (uORF) in four genes from Trypanosoma cruzi typical strains

“…Most of the molecular markers used for the T. cruzi strain diversity analysis are based on intergenic sequences or repetitive segments. However, T. cruzi genes like all of eukaryotes posses transcribed and non-translated segments that present interesting properties (Brandão 2006). One of these segments is the 5′ untranslated region (5′ utr), which in some mRNA exhibits short open reading frames denominated upstream open reading frames (uORF) (Calvo et al 2009).…”